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New York Giants’ Toughest Opponent Has Been Themselves

December 22nd, 2012 at 6:30 AM By Jen Polashock

As we all sat perched in front of any and all New York Giants playoff scenario brackets after last week’s no-show in Atlanta, the easiest way to embark upon it mentally remains: win two and in. It doesn’t ease any heartbreak and frustration, but it does create less chaos in many already-reeling Big Blue Faithful brains.

Head coach Tom Coughlin knows very well where his team is (again), but cannot verbalize why.

"Why [do] we play well one week and then we don't? It's disturbing," Coughlin said. "You can ask all the questions in the world about solving it or knowing what the reason is. I could give you a couple of opinions, but the fact of the matter is it's two games and if we somehow can win two games, we're in the playoffs. It's being able to build that kind of momentum and stay with it. Now is it any different than it was a year ago? No, it's the same scenario, so we have an awful lot to do."

“An awful lot to do” is a bit of an understatement, but it is at least the truth. There’s no sugar-coating anything from here on out; it’s do or die time. General Manager, Jerry Reese lives by his own adage: “There’s no crying in football; you have to take the bitter with the sweet.”

Lately, there are plenty of both. Certain weeks, it just feels as if there is a handful of bitter pills to swallow and less than a sip of water to take them with. That would be the back against the wall felling that is reiterated to the point that only a long sigh is an appropriate response from the weary. Where is the inspiration about to come from? What exactly is the catalyst to the postseason right now when everything seems like a missed tackle away from something positive?

If you want the very basic (and blasé) answer by the way of quarterback Eli Manning it remains something that needs to come from within.

"Our confidence will come from the players we have in this locker room, the character, our preparation, our coaches getting us a great game plan, and the fact that we know that we can go out there and play at a high level," Manning said.

If you want something that’s more concrete and football-oriented, it comes from the mouth of safety Antrel Rolle.

"We have to go out there and play ball. Forget about everything else. Go out there and win at all costs and make sure we get it done," he said.

It’s time to let go of whatever is holding them back. Inconsistency doesn’t impress anyone, especially those putting it out there. It only creates added frustration. It’s time to stop announcing what will be and just go out and do. Enough “show and go” heading into the postseason. Talk is cheap. Week 16 is the only time right now that the New YorkFootball Giants can prove they belong in January games. Play the game.

It’s funny because I always ask myself, “which Perry Fewell will show up on Sunday?”

I get fatigued watching the down D-tackles slant out of gaps and get gashed for big ground gains. I get tired of watching linebackers run backwards for 30 yards staying with receivers but the corners release wideouts to safeties on go routes. His schemes seem painfully contrived and over-complicated to the point where the defense looks like they’re practicing synchronized swimming out of the pool instead of playing football. Just a bunch of blue uniforms running all over the place trying to catch the guy with the ball after starting out 15 yards away from the play.

Other than Spagnola’s 2 year tenure, each of the there D Coordinators under Coughlin have been mind numbingly bad at times. There was the Tim Lewis years, especially ’06 when the team couldn’t get off the field on 3d downs. There was the Bill Sheridan fiasco that started with a revolt from within and ended with the entire unit quitting. Now there is the Perry Fewell era which boasts a Super Bowl championship wrapped in two horrid defensive campaigns. Last year following the Skins debacle, the players talked of simplifying the schemes and voila success ensued. Is that really it? Do our coaches out-think themselves? Over complicate things? Is it really the case that every player has to read every formation exactly the same as their responsibilities change on a dime? Or is it simply that some players are losing their abilities as they age; others are not living up to their promise; still others are nicked up enough that they can’t go 100%; and finally others are just having off years. What is maddening about this version of the wildly inconsistent Giants, is that they’ve turned in their best performances against the best team’s (until last week of course) and their worst ones against lesser ones. Last week’s debacle had the appearance of a team that had finally run out of gas, out of magic, out of fire. 34-0! How do you lose 34-0 when you have everything on the line unless you are just physically and mentally spent and ready for the season to end? Just so hard to explain this team’s wild ups and downs. Ironically, a win Sunday, especially if it is of the SF, GB, NO variety, will wipe away all those morose feelings and return the team to a feeling of promise and possibility. But who knows what to expect. The team does need an infusion of something. I thought it was going to be Wilson after the NO game; but he looked so inept against Atlanta, a sub-par defense, that who knows. All year I was hoping Randal would step up, but that now appears 1-2 years away at best (too soon to tell, but after Barden and Jernigan, it looks like JR’s WR drafting magic has dissipated). In my heart of hearts I’d love to see Ojomo suit up and maybe catch some wildly athletic lightening in a bottle, but that will never happen. Even if Tuck doesn’t dress, it is unlikely they dress, or if they do, play a raw UDFA rookie who has spent the season on the inactive list. So we have to look to the guys who have gotten us there before. We know Eli has it in him despite a pretty poor season. We know Cruz does to, especially since he’s been the one consistent performer all season long. If only remotely healthy, we know Nicks can take over a game. And we know Bradshaw will give every ounce of energy his broken body will allow. Flipping over, we know Rolle will play. But can we say the same about another player on the D? To a man, you can say this guy ought to be able to ……… Osi ought to get to Flacco and cause a fumble or 2. JPP ought to be able to man-handle a depleted Ravens O-Line. Canty ought to be able to control the middle. Webster ought to be able to cover not overly fast receivers. Should, should, should. We will see on Sunday. One thing for sure (well, almost for sure) is the team that appears on Sunday will be the real team for 2012. Win and they should be able to take care of business the following week; lose and the following week won’t matter.